The Star-Crossed Stone: The Secret Life, Myths, and History of a Fascinating Fossil

By Ken McNamara

Throughout the four hundred thousand years that humanity has been collecting fossils, sea urchin fossils, or echinoids, have continually been among the most prized, from the Paleolithic era, when they decorated flint axes, to today, when paleobiologists study them for clues to the earth’s history. 

In The Star-Crossed Stone, Kenneth J. McNamara, an expert on fossil echinoids, takes readers on an incredible fossil hunt, with stops in history, paleontology, folklore, mythology, art, religion, and much more. Beginning with prehistoric times, when urchin fossils were used as jewelry, McNamara reveals how the fossil crept into the religious and cultural lives of societies around the world—the roots of the familiar five-pointed star, for example, can be traced to the pattern found on urchins. But McNamara’s vision is even broader than that: using our knowledge of early habits of fossil collecting, he explores the evolution of the human mind itself, drawing striking conclusions about humanity’s earliest appreciation of beauty and the first stirrings of artistic expression. Along the way, the fossil becomes a nexus through which we meet brilliant eccentrics and visionary archaeologists and develop new insights into topics as seemingly disparate as hieroglyphics, Beowulf, and even church organs.

An idiosyncratic celebration of science, nature, and human ingenuity, The Star-Crossed Stone is as charming and unforgettable as the fossil at its heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Release date: Nov 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9780226514710

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Reviews for The Star-Crossed Stone

[nielsengw_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In March 1887, a grave was discovered in England. It was an old grave, the interred had been there for thousands of years. But the two occupants weren’t the only creatures there: they had been buried with hundreds of fossilized sea urchins. Historians and archaeologists were puzzled. Why were these fossils buried with the ancient humans? What was their significance? Kenneth McNamara’s The Star-Crossed Stone looks into the discovery, history, and folklore surrounding fossil urchins.Like many other historical objects, once you go looking for them, they show up everywhere and in the most unlikely of places. Fossilized urchins look much like modern sand dollars, but embedded in stone. They show up in ancient gravesites, church decorations, medieval engravings, and even Egyptian hieroglyphics. Local cottage owners placed them around doorways and windowsills as good luck charms. They were used as fertility charms and used by Vikings as “thunder-stones” to connect them to their mythology. These seemingly ordinary rock formations have been known as shepherd’s crowns, button stones, and fairy loaves.McNamara’s intricate weaving of paleontology and anthropology is both learned and lucid. Since there weren’t any creatures around that looked like the fossils, ancient peoples thought they were remnants of a time long before, of myth and mysticism. McNamara paints this cachet as more charming than provincial. To this day, there are still cottages and outbuildings that incorporate these fossils into their designs. The five-pointed skeletons of these ancient creatures lend themselves well to decoration (once you get past the fact that you are using an actual skeleton as decor in the first place). A delightful and engaging read.